Thursday, October 18, 2007

Accidental Peep Shows


My workday begins when I log on to Skype. It's sort of like walking down the corridor of an office with windows. Everyone who is already in their office sees you walk by (or log on) and knows you're in. I also like that my friends and family pop up now and again. Even if we don't chat or call, it's just nice to see them online.

The other day, however, I saw a bit more than I was supposed to. I had just finished a call with a colleague when Skype said she was calling once again. I assumed she'd forgotten some bit of information. We'd been using our webcams and hers is set to launch the webcam automatically when the call begins.

The webcam started but there was no one there. I called out but clearly the headset was still connected, so she couldn't hear me. Then I heard the television turn on. She changed channels a few times and walked in front of the camera to her bathroom. She took off her shirt, walked back out of the view of the camera, changed channels again, and moved in front of the camera again where she took off the rest of her clothes. I watched for a while hoping she'd come back to the computer so I could send her some crazy emoticon. I wondered if I've ever done this to someone who didn't know me well enough to laugh with me.

What a way to greet your contacts. I used to walk down the hall waving and mouthing "good morning" to each person I passed. They'd wave back and we'd catch up later in the coffee room. It makes for a much more cheerful day at the office.

Monday, October 8, 2007

No Cash



Does anyone remember the days when traveling overseas meant you needed to take traveler's checks and a wad of cash that you would hide in various places throughout your luggage? Back then, when you wanted to exchange money, you'd have to go to several banks to find out who had the best exchange rate and the lowest commission.

Well, if you're coming to Argentina, you might want to pack those traveler's checks and that wad of cash. ATMs here work (according to my rigorous data collection) about 7 out of 10 times. And when one isn't working, you can't simply head down the street to the next bank. Oh no. It seems the banks here all run out of money at the same time.

Now how is a tourist supposed to spend any money if the banks don't have any money to give? Once Cristina (the current president's wife) is elected president, she should make this her first task. Talk about a boost to the economy!